Mātātuhi Foundation: new grant criteria, new funding pool

Mātātuhi Foundation has announced that applicants for the Foundation's grants can now apply for up to $20,000 in funding in their October funding round, which closes on 31 October 2024. In previous years, the maximum grant per project was $5,000.

To mark the 12th funding round, the Mātātuhi Foundation has released a revised set of funding criteria to help individuals and organisations seeking literary project funding to see whether there is a match.

"After nearly six years in the sector, the Foundation Trustees believed it was time to reassess how to serve best Mātātuhi's kaupapa of strengthening Aotearoa's literary landscape. Revising our criteria was one initiative and another was increasing the biannual funding pool to support capacity-building projects in the literary sector," said Anne Blackburn, Foundation Chair.

New Criteria for Funding To be eligible, your literary project must deliver against one or more of the following objectives:

• Helps develop a sustainable literary platform to grow awareness and readership of New Zealand books and writers.

• Increases engagement with New Zealand children’s literature

• Builds access to and awareness of New Zealand’s literary legacy

Applications meeting one or more of these objectives are welcome from individuals, groups or organisations with a strong track record in project delivery and clearly measurable project outcomes.

To minimise the level of unsuccessful applications, the Trustees have also revised their list of projects they will not fund. Grant funding is not available for*:

• The development, publishing, or promoting of individual books or anthologies.

• Projects which relate to screenwriting (for plays, films or TV) or are primarily performance-based in nature All applications should be via our online form.

Highlights summary:

• The Mātātuhi Foundation's latest funding round is now OPEN and closes on 31 October 2024

• Applications for up to $20,000 in funding will be accepted

• All applications must meet one or more of the new priority areas - Sustainable Platform for NZ literature, NZ Children's Literature, NZ Literary Legacy

• The Foundation will accept applications from past recipients

• Project leads must have a strong track record in execution and delivering measurable outcomes

• All applications must be submitted via this our online form

For more information on applications, funding successes and criteria, please visit matatuhifoundation.co.nz or contact the Foundation on info@matatuhifoundation.co.nz.

Since its launch in 2018, the Mātātuhi Foundation has funded close to 60 projects and awarded more than $360,000 of grant monies to the literary sector. Skill building, digital resource development, facilitating youth access to NZ books and authors, celebrating excellence in writing along with preservation of NZ legacy texts have been just some of the projects that the Mātātuhi Foundation has proudly supported.